10 Punjab Assembly members from PPP, PML-Q join PML-N

Ten members of the Punjab Assembly (MPAs), including eight from the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) and two from the Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q), on Friday announced to join the PML-Nawaz.
The announcements were made in a meeting with Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif at ModelTown, Lahore. National Assembly Opposition Leader Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan, Zaeem Qadri and other leaders were also present on the occasion.
The PPP leaders who announced to join the PML-N include Rana Babar, Javed Allauddin, Rana Munawar, Nishat Khan Daha, and Jamil Shah. PPP MPA Uzma Bokhari, who along with her husband Samiullah Bokahri resigned from the assembly and the party on Friday morning, also announced to join the PML-N in a separate meeting. Two PML-Q leaders who joined the PML-N include Dewan Ashiq Hussain Bukhari and Pir Aslam Bodla.
Earlier in December 2012, three PPP MPAs submitted their resignations to the Assembly Secretariat and announced their decision to join the PML-N.
Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting Qamar Zaman Kaira on Friday termed these defections as a violation of the Charter of Democracy (CoD), which he stressed should be discouraged.
“Their defection was already declared, which is unfortunate. Sharif brothers are playing power politics and using force against protesting doctors and government servants,” Kaira said.
He said according to a CoD clause, it was agreed that both parties would not trade each other’s members. PML-N also breached the mandate of PML-Q, he added.
The minister said media and political parties should play their roles in discouraging the trend of defections ahead of general elections. Politicking is the negation of rules and doctrines and it will spoil national politics, Kaira said.
Kaira further said Nawaz Sharif was toeing a prudent policy, but Shahbaz Sharif was going in the wrong direction.
“The PML-N is confused because in the past it had contested elections using state power and enjoyed the backing of certain institutions,” he added.
He said raising a political party and contesting elections was Imran Khan’s right, but the PML-N viewed it as a conspiracy against them.
He said the people of southern Punjab were protesting against deprivation of basic rights, but the PML-N was doling out funds for Lahore’s development.
“Whenever the PPP raises a voice for the rights of the people of southern Punjab, PML-N terms it a conspiracy,” Kaira said.
Responding to a question, the federal minister said the PPP could not stage a protest in Islamabad against its own government, rejecting the notion that Tahirul Qadri enjoyed PPP’s backing.
However, Kaira said Qadri was a Pakistani citizen by birth and had the right to hold dual nationality.